# When to Stop Pushing a Song > Two numbers tell you whether a track has legs or is finished. When to double down, when to stop, and the month most artists lose by not deciding. [All guides](/blog) # When to Stop Pushing a Song Published 26 August 2026, 00:00 UTC · updated 12 August 2026, 21:30 UTC · by Loopin The most expensive month in an independent release is the one spent promoting a track the data already answered. Two numbers, checked on day fourteen, make the call. ## Day 14, not day 3 The first week is your own push and tells you about your effort, not about the song. The second week is when the algorithm decides whether to carry it, and that is the only period that predicts anything. Make the decision once, on day fourteen, and write it down. Deciding continuously means never deciding, which is how a campaign quietly runs for three months. ## Number one: save rate Above about 8% — keep going for another fortnight. The platform has a reason to serve it and your continued posting compounds with that. Under 3% — stop, and start the next song. Between the two is genuinely ambiguous, and the tiebreaker is the second number. ## Number two: the algorithmic share, and whether it is rising Spotify for Artists splits streams by source. Watch algorithmic — Radio, Discover Weekly, Release Radar — as a share of the total. Rising while your own posting stays flat means the platform is doing work you are not paying for, and that is the strongest possible reason to keep pushing. Flat or falling while your posting stays constant means you are now the only thing keeping it alive, and that never scales. Stop. ## Stopping is not abandoning A track you stop promoting keeps existing. It sits in your catalogue, it gets found through the next release, and it can be revived if a clip unexpectedly moves. Stopping means ending the campaign, not deleting the song. The one thing to keep doing is including it in the rotation of clips for the next release. Old songs find people through new posts more often than through their own. ## What to do with the finding Before you move on, write down which clip performed best, which section it came from, and which audience responded. That is the brief for the next release and it takes five minutes while you still remember. Then release again inside six to eight weeks. The single strongest predictor of an independent artist growing is release frequency, and the month spent flogging a finished track is exactly what that frequency costs. ## Frequently asked questions ### How long should I promote a song? Decide on day fourteen. The first week measures your own effort; the second measures whether the algorithm is carrying it. Above an 8% save rate, continue a fortnight. Under 3%, stop. ### How do I know if a song still has momentum? Watch the algorithmic share of streams in Spotify for Artists. Rising while your posting stays flat means the platform is doing work for free. Flat or falling means you are the only thing keeping it alive. ### What should I do before moving on? Write down which clip performed best, which section it came from and who responded. That is the brief for the next release, and it takes five minutes while you still remember. ## Related reads - [The week after release is the one that matters](/blog/the-week-after-release-plan) - [The five numbers to check every week](/blog/what-numbers-to-check-every-week) - [How to stay motivated as an independent artist](/blog/how-to-stay-motivated-as-an-independent-artist) --- Source: https://onloopin.com/blog/when-to-stop-pushing-a-song